Soapweed
Well-known member
Bear Killed by John Deere Combine in Wisconsin
A huge hibernating male black bear was killed
Nov. 26, 2009 in northern Dunn County when it was hit by
a combine. Neil Schlough of Boyceville was harvesting
corn in a field on the Pinehurst Farm at about 7
o'clock that evening a few miles south of the
Dunn/Barron county line, just off of County
Road VVV, or about 22 miles north of Menomonie.
The bear was denning in the field, having
dug a hole about a foot deep to lay in and pulled in
debris from the corn stalks in on top of itself.
According to his wife, Phyllis, Neil came upon the
bear with the outside row of his combine head and
drove the outside snout into the animal's neck and
shoulder and pushed it about six or seven feet.
She said Neil felt the combine strike something
and the outside snout was pushed up into the air
(the combine wasn't damaged).
"He stepped out of the combine and saw that
he had hit an animal," she said. "At first he thought
one of our dairy steers over there had gotten out,
went in the corn field,ate too much corn and died."
But it didn't take long for Neil to realize it was
a bear, but it did take longer to realize how big it
was. She said he called her and told her he thought
it weighed about 300 pounds.
The DNR was called immediately and Conservation
Warden Jim Cleven responded.
A skid steer was taken to the field, and the bear
was lifted up so that it could be dressed out.
"With the lights ... we could see that it was a
pretty big bear," Phyllis said. "But we had no idea
until the locker plant put it on a scale that it weighed
as much as it did." The bear was taken to the Augusta
Locker Plant to be prepared for mounting. It
was there that the animal was first weighed and
measured. Field dressed, the bear weighed in at
618 pounds and measured 7 feet from head to tail.
The Schloughs were told at the locker that they
could add 80 to 100 pounds, depending on the size
animal, to reach an approximate actual weight.
"So we figure that bear had to weigh at least 700.
We figure 700 to 720," Phyllis said.
It's too early to tell if the massive animal will
break any records since the skull has to be dried for
60 days before it can be scored.
Phyllis says they believe it has the potential to
break the state mark and will probably break the
Dunn County record.
More common DNR wildlife specialist Jess
Carstens said, "This is a thing that, for whatever
reason, is happening quite regularly that [bears] are
denning up in the middle of fields and corn fields
seem to be particularly common due to the amount
of debris from harvesting the corn that's on the
ground. There's a little more stuff to pull in on top of
them as they snuggle into the hold that they've dug."
Phyllis reported that they frequently see bears on
their land. And she said she recently saw a sow and
cub in a corn field that was being harvested.
A full-body mount
After paying $75 to keep the bear, Neil is having
the bear full-body mounted by Tom Persons, owner
of TP Taxidermy. "He's hardly ever had time to hunt
or fish or anything because of farming," Phyllis said
of Neil. " And so, he's going to keep the bear, and
he's going to have it mounted. He's really proud of
his trophy." She said they were told by Persons that
he'll have to use a grizzly bear form to mount the
bear because there aren't black bear mounts big
enough to do the job. Person reportedly also believes
the bear to be 15 to 20 years old, but a tooth
will be pulled during the mounting process to determine
its age..
According to Wikipedia.com, male bears can
reach 660 pounds, but exceptionally large males
can weigh up to 800 pounds.
Phyllis said Neil was recently trying to come
up with a name for the huge animal that will soon
occupy a large amount of space somewhere in their
home. "I thought this was kind of funny. He said, 'I'm
going to name that thing Hercules.
I thought Hercules for that bear was a good name."
A huge hibernating male black bear was killed
Nov. 26, 2009 in northern Dunn County when it was hit by
a combine. Neil Schlough of Boyceville was harvesting
corn in a field on the Pinehurst Farm at about 7
o'clock that evening a few miles south of the
Dunn/Barron county line, just off of County
Road VVV, or about 22 miles north of Menomonie.
The bear was denning in the field, having
dug a hole about a foot deep to lay in and pulled in
debris from the corn stalks in on top of itself.
According to his wife, Phyllis, Neil came upon the
bear with the outside row of his combine head and
drove the outside snout into the animal's neck and
shoulder and pushed it about six or seven feet.
She said Neil felt the combine strike something
and the outside snout was pushed up into the air
(the combine wasn't damaged).
"He stepped out of the combine and saw that
he had hit an animal," she said. "At first he thought
one of our dairy steers over there had gotten out,
went in the corn field,ate too much corn and died."
But it didn't take long for Neil to realize it was
a bear, but it did take longer to realize how big it
was. She said he called her and told her he thought
it weighed about 300 pounds.
The DNR was called immediately and Conservation
Warden Jim Cleven responded.
A skid steer was taken to the field, and the bear
was lifted up so that it could be dressed out.
"With the lights ... we could see that it was a
pretty big bear," Phyllis said. "But we had no idea
until the locker plant put it on a scale that it weighed
as much as it did." The bear was taken to the Augusta
Locker Plant to be prepared for mounting. It
was there that the animal was first weighed and
measured. Field dressed, the bear weighed in at
618 pounds and measured 7 feet from head to tail.
The Schloughs were told at the locker that they
could add 80 to 100 pounds, depending on the size
animal, to reach an approximate actual weight.
"So we figure that bear had to weigh at least 700.
We figure 700 to 720," Phyllis said.
It's too early to tell if the massive animal will
break any records since the skull has to be dried for
60 days before it can be scored.
Phyllis says they believe it has the potential to
break the state mark and will probably break the
Dunn County record.
More common DNR wildlife specialist Jess
Carstens said, "This is a thing that, for whatever
reason, is happening quite regularly that [bears] are
denning up in the middle of fields and corn fields
seem to be particularly common due to the amount
of debris from harvesting the corn that's on the
ground. There's a little more stuff to pull in on top of
them as they snuggle into the hold that they've dug."
Phyllis reported that they frequently see bears on
their land. And she said she recently saw a sow and
cub in a corn field that was being harvested.
A full-body mount
After paying $75 to keep the bear, Neil is having
the bear full-body mounted by Tom Persons, owner
of TP Taxidermy. "He's hardly ever had time to hunt
or fish or anything because of farming," Phyllis said
of Neil. " And so, he's going to keep the bear, and
he's going to have it mounted. He's really proud of
his trophy." She said they were told by Persons that
he'll have to use a grizzly bear form to mount the
bear because there aren't black bear mounts big
enough to do the job. Person reportedly also believes
the bear to be 15 to 20 years old, but a tooth
will be pulled during the mounting process to determine
its age..
According to Wikipedia.com, male bears can
reach 660 pounds, but exceptionally large males
can weigh up to 800 pounds.
Phyllis said Neil was recently trying to come
up with a name for the huge animal that will soon
occupy a large amount of space somewhere in their
home. "I thought this was kind of funny. He said, 'I'm
going to name that thing Hercules.
I thought Hercules for that bear was a good name."
:lol: :lol: